Changes in physical performance during British Army Junior Entry, British Army Standard Entry and Royal Air Force Basic Training

Abstract

IntroductionThe purpose was to quantify physical performance in men and women during British Army Junior Entry (Army-JE), British Army Standard Entry (Army-SE) and Royal Air Force (RAF) basic training (BT).DesignProspective longitudinal study.Methods381 participants ((339 men and 42 women) n=141 Army-JE, n=132 Army-SE, n=108 RAF) completed a 2 km run, medicine ball throw (MBT) and isometric mid-thigh pull (MTP), pre-BT and post-BT. To examine changes in pre-BT to post-BT physical test performance, for each course, paired Student t-test and Wilcoxon test were applied to normally and non-normally distributed data, respectively, with effect sizes reported as Cohen’s D and with rank biserial correlations, respectively. A one-way between-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) (or Welch ANOVA for non-normally distributed data) compared performance between quartiles based on test performance pre-BT. Where the main tests statistic, p value and effect sizes identified likely effect of quartile, post hoc comparisons were made using Games-Howell tests with Tukey’s p value. Data are presented as mean±SD, with statistical significance set at p<0.05.ResultsDuring BT, 2 km run time improved by 13±46 s (−2.1%±8.1%), 30±64 s (−4.8%±12.3%) and 24±27 s (−4.5%±5.1%) for Army-JE, Army-SE and RAF, respectively (all p<0.005). MBT distance increased by 0.27±0.28 m (6.8%±7.0%) for Army-JE (p<0.001) and 0.07±0.46 m (2.3%±10.9%) for Army-SE (p=0.040), but decreased by 0.08±0.27 m (−1.4%±6.0%) for RAF (p=0.002). MTP force increased by 80±281 n (10.8%±27.6%) for Army-JE (p<0.001) and did not change for Army-SE (−36±295 n, −0.7%±20.6%, p=0.144) or RAF (−9±208 n, 1.0±17.0, p=0.603). For all tests and cohorts, participants in the lowest quartile of pre-BT performance scores demonstrated greater improvements, compared with participants in the highest quartile (except Army-JE MBT, ∆% change similar between all quartiles).ConclusionsChanges in physical performance were observed for the three fitness tests following the different BT courses, and recruits with the lowest strength and aerobic fitness experienced greatest improvements.

Twelve weeks of concurrent resistance and interval training improves military occupational task performance in men and women

“…Although older than typical British Army recruits, our participants were of a relatively similar fitness level. Our participants performed the 2‐km run slower than has been reported for British Army recruits (Rue et al, 2023), but demonstrated similar aerobic capacity as measured by VO 2peak . The study cohort as a whole demonstrated a pre‐training VO 2peak of 45.3 ± 8.0 ml·kg −1 ·min −1 , whereas British Army recruits reported an VO 2max of 44.8 ± 4.9 ml·kg −1 ·min −1 (Williams, 2005).…”

“…The study cohort as a whole demonstrated a pre‐training VO 2peak of 45.3 ± 8.0 ml·kg −1 ·min −1 , whereas British Army recruits reported an VO 2max of 44.8 ± 4.9 ml·kg −1 ·min −1 (Williams, 2005). For the seated medicine ball throw, British Army recruits reported an average distance of 4.33 ± 0.83 m (Rue et al, 2023). Study participants demonstrated an average throw distance of 3.64 ± 0.97, however the study group was ∼46% women, whereas the military group was only ∼16% women.…”

Pre-sleep protein supplementation does not improve performance, body composition, and recovery in British Army recruits (part 1)

“…The discrepancy in findings between those studies and the current study is unknown. Historically, strength adaptations may be deemed suboptimal after 14 weeks of British Army BT ( 47 , 48 ) with recruits typically making only small improvements in muscular strength (men = 7 ± 11% and women = 0 ± 10%) ( 48 ). More recently, mid-thigh pull force did not change (−0.7 ± 20.6%, p = 0.144) in 132 British Army recruits after 14 weeks of BT ( 47 ).…”

“…Historically, strength adaptations may be deemed suboptimal after 14 weeks of British Army BT ( 47 , 48 ) with recruits typically making only small improvements in muscular strength (men = 7 ± 11% and women = 0 ± 10%) ( 48 ). More recently, mid-thigh pull force did not change (−0.7 ± 20.6%, p = 0.144) in 132 British Army recruits after 14 weeks of BT ( 47 ). Internationally, suboptimal strength adaptations have been reported during military training.…”

“…As protein supplementation has been shown to attenuate the interference effect ( 51 ), it is likely that the training stimulus was not sufficient to significantly increase strength. The lack of statistical differences observed between groups may also be explained in part by the large inter-individual variability in changes in strength which appears to be typical of British Army training ( 47 ). As such, the feasibility of a personalised approach to training and nutrition during military training should be explored.…”